


Beneath The Lie (Phan)

by Bandtrashno1



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Gay, M/M, YouTube
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-05-18 06:09:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5901277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bandtrashno1/pseuds/Bandtrashno1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When finance becomes a huge problem in the household of the two popular vloggers, desperate times call for desperate measures. Will the biggest lie on the internet break the inseparable bond between the two? Or will their own thoughts, dismissed for years, beat them to it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

(A quick note to tell you, I don't own Dan and Phil, I'm not implying this is what actually happened in reference to 2012, it's all just fiction and if I get a detail or something wrong, I have changed it to fit the story line and it was (probably) on purpose. Enjoy!)

"Dan we've ran out of milk again!" The raven haired boy yelled from the kitchen. A loud huff of defeat and disappointment rang out from their front room, in response to the yet another announcement from Phil. 

"Right, I'll nip out later to get some more then." The other boy replied with obvious burden riddled in his voice. This was the second time this week alone they had struggled to maintain the amount of essentials in the house. The household had had a lack of toilet paper, tea bags, and bread, never mind some special cereal Phil wanted. However, this wasn't the first time this had happened. After all, the year of 2012 was a hard year for the two popular vloggers.

Phil sauntered into the room, a glum look on his face. Of course Dan noticed but he doesn't like to confront Phil anyway. He knows what's wrong; there's no point asking. For the last few months, money had grown into the problem neither could avoid. Their dream to visit their ideal destination -Japan- had proposed so many problems. Viewers were getting bored of similar content and with no inspiration, the boys suffered in silence. 

"Dan." The sky eyed boy said, his body language tense and words stern. Dan's eyes flickered up from his phone screen reluctantly, he could recognise that tone anywhere. He'd heard it before.

"Yes." He replied, quiet but still serious.  
"We need to talk." Phil said as he perched on the end of the modern, comfy sofa. Yet another sigh left Dans mouth. That had to be the, what, 50th time today?

"Yeah Phil, I know. The money thing right?" 

"Uh... Yeah. I don't know what to do Dan. The fans have gotten bored again and I have no ideas. YouTube is our job. It's what we do and if we can't bring in money from that, there's nothing we can do." The once-bubbly, happy boy said, desperate to try and communicate to his best friend how serious this situation was. 

Once apon a time, their videos were loved in the community and they were basically celebrities. Now, the most views they'd get is at most 10,000. Not enough to pay the rent. 

 

Even though the situation was true, there's one thing Dan didn't agree with. Phil did have ideas. He was just too afraid to go through with them. Who was he kidding? Phil always had ideas, if only he had more confidence. He was always the confident one... What happened?

 

"I know Phil, you think I don't know? Do you think I'm not taking this seriously enough? You aren't the only one hurting right now! Jesus, Phil I don't know what to do! You came up with it last time, and you know how that turned out!" Dan's sudden outburst brought heavy silence to the room. Each breath they took, more regretful than the last. Slight tears sprung to the surface of both boys eyes. After all their years spent together, the only times they had fallen out was in 2012, where they were in the exact same situation. 

 

"Look, I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Your idea got us through that year okay? That video helped us a hell of a lot. I have this crazy idea as well. I don't think you'll like it though. Hell, I don't even like it. But I know for a fact that it'll bring in more money than ever." His soothing voice calms the ripples in the tense atmosphere. For awhile, Dan had been thinking about this mystery idea of his for months. He knew Phil would hate it as much as he does.

 

"It's fine, I understand. You know I didn't want to make that video as much as you too. Anyway, what's your idea?" Phil said softly, turning his head to face the window of the apartment. The weather was okay today, just a normal day in London I suppose. The trees directly opposite them were blowing gently in the wind, creating a beautiful ripple effect in the sky.

 

At the same time, hesitation filled Dan's mind. Could he really propose such a wild, totally barbaric idea to Phil? This could mean implying to the whole world something they couldn't even admit to themselves. If Dan wasn't ready then there was a bloody small chance that Phil would be.

 

"Um we don't have to do it if you don't want too. It'll need a lot of acting and a massive lie for this to work though." 

 

"Yeah just tell me it's fine." He said as his gaze returned to the other boy.

 

"Are you sure? It's a huge risk though. It could ruin our entire lives if it goes wrong." He worried. 

 

"Dan, just tell me!"

 

"Okay..." He took a deep breath,

"We fake Phan."


	2. Chapter 2

"You- We- What?" Phil stuttered out, looking as bewildered as ever. Dan knew for a fact that would be his reaction, that's exactly why he didn't want to tell him. He flickered his eyes down, focusing on the leather beneath him.

"Dan, we've already tried that, the V-Day video was mean to help us and it did. We can't pull that string again! They'll know we're lying; they aren't stupid."

"No, not like the V-Day again, we can't say it was an accident or that we didn't mean it this time. What I mean is we make a video and keep it up, we act like a couple, for as long as it takes to get the money again." Dan tried to explain.

"Oh yeah, and what will happen if they find out!" The black haired boy yelled, the angry sound echoing through the atmosphere.

"They won't if we do it well enough." Dan tried to argue back. Phil let out an exhausted sigh and shook his head. This shook Dan with guilt. He couldn't help but to think this was his fault. He thought of the idea, it was his fault Phil was annoyed at him. 

"For God's sake! This isn't going to work! It's going to backlash in our faces and we'll end up in a worse situation than we are now."

"No just- Come on Phil just think about it. Please. I'm really trying to help us out here. Both of us." Dan replied with a quieter, calmer voice. The least thing he wanted to do was anger him but that's exactly what he did. Phil ran a hand through his jet black hair is response to Dan's surrender.

The room was silent. The usual bright colours and happy feeling was drained. Yesterday was the same and so was the day before that. It all came tumbling down on Phil to make this decision. He made the wrong one, the happy bright feeling would never show again.

Doubt still lingered the air. It wasn't that long ago they had let the V-Day video out and now they're gonna do the same thing; only bigger. To Dan, this was the only thing they could do to get better income. If it carried on, they'd be rich. However, to Phil, everything about this plan could go wrong. The fans could find out it was fake, they'd get hated for it, they'd lose all their friends. He used to be so confident. Tears started to show as Dan's vision went blurry. It was all too much.

Dan rose from the sofa in need of fresh air. In need of an escape.

"Um, I need to go for a walk okay? But please promise me something." He announces while going to fetch his leather jacket.

"What is it?" 

"Please just think about it." He pleads with leather jacket in hand. And with that, Dan was out the door and Phil was left all by himself.

Freezing cold air hit Dan's face as he closed the door and headed down the street. His hands were stuffed in his pockets from the cold an his eyes squint. He just needed a distraction. Anything.

It was always so hard when Phil wasn't himself. He's suppose to be the happy, open minded one. Not the one who won't try something because of the most common fear of failure...rejection. Dan couldn't bring himself to blame Phil for any of it though. It was going to be hard even if they do go through with it, but even if they don't... 

He turned the corner sharply and continued down the empty street. The cafe stood at the end, adjacent to the huge building to Dan's left. It wasn't immaculate but it wasn't shabby either.

Careful not to get noticed, he slid through the door and swiftly found a small table for two in the corner of the building. The walls were a deep brown and seemed to be leaning in on him. That's the effect he always got after arguing with Phil. 

*

Hours passed and Dan felt somewhat refreshed (with a little help from the drinks he'd ordered). Having heard nothing from his housemate in all this time, Dan didn't know if this relaxed him or made him worry more. He was sure Phil was fine, after all-

"Arrrgghhhhh! OMG it's Dan!" His head shot up from the sudden outburst. Two teenage girls stood at the other side of the room, their faces plastered in delight at their favourite YouTuber. Other people from the café looked over in confusion. Dan felt a little overwhelmed as he always did when confronted by fans. They made their way over to the table looking happy they had caught his attention; Dan forced a smile onto his face.

"Oh my God hi! I love your videos! I've seen all of them and love them all!" One said, the same who had shouted. She had blue hair and looked pretty cool.

"Oh really? Thanks, it's nice to meet you both." He replied with a smile.

"Do you mind if we take a picture with you?" The other said with obvious excitement. Dan internally sighed. He did like meeting fans and things but sometimes it just got too much.

"Yeah of course! Selfie or not?"

"Yeah sounds good!" Dan took the picture and gave the girls their phones back. Normally fans would just say thanks and leave after the picture but this time, the girls didn't.

"So about you and Phil, is phan real? I mean, we all know it is but when are you gonna come out?" The blue-haired one asked. The first emotion Dan felt was panic. What if they knew about his and Phil's plan? 

"Um, no. Phan isn't real." He responded is obvious discomfort. He hated when they asked this. Most fans knew not too, but there was always a few... The other girl looked disappointingly at her friend. At least someone knows boundaries.

"Chloe, come on. Don't ask that." She murmured while nudging her friend - named Chloe.

"Pfft we all know it's true. There's no point in denying it. Anyway, thanks for the picture!" Chloe exclaimed, taking her friend by the wrist and dragging her away. Eye contact was made between Dan and the nice girl before they disappeared, as well as a genuain smile. Well. That was interesting.

A small percentage of people from the café were still looking at him so Dan pulled out his phone from his overly skinny jeans. 1 notification, it read. He swiped it across. It was a twitter notification from Phil.

 

'Soon to come: VERY IMPORTANT NEWS FROM ME AND DAN!!!!!' Maybe he did think about it after all...


	3. Chapter 3

Looking at the notification made Dan shudder in realisation. He couldn't believe this was actually going to happen and he certainly couldn't believe Phil had decided to go through with it. Yes, he was scared, but this was their last option. It wasn't like Dan hadn't thought about other options, it was that there wasn't any other options to think about other than to delete his channel which was completely out of the question. 

His channel was just about the only thing that got him through his later teenage years and Dan hoped that it would be a safe haven for all his fans. It had helped so many people in the past but now, it was just a wreck. It was like there wasn't anything there to save.

He put on his jacket and took off from the café, once again making quite an exit as some unaware people were still staring. 

Once around the corner and on the way back to the apartment, the idea of his life never being the same settled in. The fresh breeze on his face and the wind ruffling through his hair reminded Dan of the freedom he had right now. He could do anything. No one could tell him no. After this video is uploaded, he would be tapped by his own creation. No one but himself could say no. And that was scary.

Opening the door to his and Phil's apartment gave off a slightly strange feel to the atmosphere. It was like from the time he had left to now, no time had past. Phil was still perched on the edge of the couch and was staring out the tree filled window. This made Dan wonder if Phil had moved at all.

"So," Dan muttered whilst obtaining his position on the couch, "You...thought about it?"

A moment of icy silence dominated the room before Phil spoke. "Yeah I told them. Not about... you know, but just that we have some news. Some of them have already guessed." Dan thought he saw a slight glimpse of a smile on his best friends lips, Phil always used to smile around the house, heck, Phil used to smile everywhere, all the time. Such a lovely smile.

"Wow, some of them can be a bit eager," Dan said with a chuckle as Phil's ghostly smile grew, "So, when do we want to film? Do we script it?"

Phil turned and crossed his legs, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Ahhh, we could film tonight and upload tomorrow? Do you want to script it? I mean I guess it'd be more natural if we didn't but I would have no idea what to say."

"Sounds good and no not really but we could do with making up some facts about it you know?" He suggested, leaving the sofa to get a notepad and pen from the dining table.

"Soooo we first started dating around the mid year time? Yeah that sounds believable and the reason we didn't tell them was because we knew there would be a shit storm." Dan muttered whilst scribbling down what he was saying. Phil couldn't read Dan's writing to save his life so he knew he'd better remember now. 

They discussed different ideas about how to act and upcoming videos until it was all set in stone. Very fake stone. Probably just polostirine actually.

Although this was his own idea, Dan couldn't help but to feel an eerie feeling in his stomach. Two grown men discussing their own fake love. It was just strange. It was like looking into a mirror but on the other side, they were stood together, in fraud matrimony, imitating the natural bond that is human error. Making a replica of what there once was in another life. A life that wasn't their own. 

Dan couldn't shake the culpable feeling awaking within him, was he cheating his fans? They trusted him and Phil. Would it be the same after they? Phil had a point earlier, what would happen if they found out that it's all a lie?

 

*

 

With the camera set up, light on, and a concerned look on both of the men's faces, it was time to film. The hard part wasn't finding a place to start, it was finding a place to stop and in this case it really was a metaphor of the famous vloggers time together.

"Errrm right, you ready then?" Phil spoke with obvious discomfort. 

'He's just ignoring the fact that he doesn't want to do it. Even I don't want to do it.' Dan thought as an unofficial response to Phil,   
"Yeah yeah let's just do it." Fake life on, real life off.  
"Hey guys it's Phil here and today as well as many other days I am joined by Daniel!" Phil exclaimed in that same happy voice millions of fans used to hear. Dan would never admit it but he loved it when Phil sounded happy as it reminded him of the good old days. 

"Yes hello!" He added with a grin. Phil kept talking after he realised Dan had nothing else to say (probably something about his new house plant or something) but the other man couldn't bring himself to listen. So much was going on in his fragile mind. So many doubts and questions that this barbaric idea was slowly but surely turning into a bad one. I guess it was kind of like a guided shot in the dark. A very, very risky one.  
"A lot of you are probably wondering what's going on with the hint on Twitter paired with the title of this video but I can promise that what you're about to hear will be somewhat of a shock to you." The dark haired boy continued sounding nothing but confident and Dan didn't know how he did it. In his mind the equivalent of this whole mess was jumping off a cliff. His mind was racing and he was sure the viewers would notice him acting strange. 

Phil must have sensed the uncomfortableness to his right as he reached down and took Dan's hand into his. Dan froze a little in surprise of the action but once a gentle squeeze was exchanged, he managed to relax a bit. 

It was time. They knew at least one of them had to come out with something. Those five words could either make their life as happy and amazing as it was before...or ruin it forever. There was no in-between. 

A deep breath in. A squeeze of hands. A shaky breath out. A nervous glance at his life's companion. Dan opened his mouth.

"I love Phil."


End file.
